Final Reflection: Revisiting my SWOT Analysis
Kathy Cobb
University of West Georgia
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Final Reflection: Revisiting my SWOT Analysis
August, 2009 I started a new chapter in my life. It became a journey that changed not
only my teaching abilities, but has made me grow and become a stronger person and
professional. I had originally planned to begin my coursework for my specialist degree at the
University of West Georgia in the Fall of 2008. My plans changed quickly when my mother
died of an unexpected heart attack. In talking to Dr. Bennett and Dr. Huett, they suggested that I
wait until the summer to begin my coursework. Little did I know then how accurate and how
important that advice would be. While I would not take anything for my time spent working on
my specialist degree at the University of West Georgia I will admit that it has been challenging
and very time consuming. In the Fall of 2008 and Spring of 2009 I was going through a lot and I
respect my two professors for giving me such good advice. Over a year ago, I was asked to
describe my personal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as they related to
technology. Since then I have completed almost all of my Ed.S. work in Instructional
Technology at the University of West Georgia and have learned quite a bit about both
technology and myself. I can honestly say that I have learned more while working on this degree
than any of my other college degrees. I have incorporated an abundance of what I have learned
into my own teaching experience at Commerce Middle School. I have met some challenges
head-on and conquered numerous fears. I look forward to the opportunities to showcase what I
have learned in the Instructional Technology program. Outlined below, you will find my
reflective thoughts as I revisit my original SWOT Analysis. I will also reflect upon the goals I set
at that time and new goals I have made for myself.
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Strengths Revisited
During my first semester in MEDT 8463, I listed two major strengths in my SWOT
Analysis that pertained to technology and me. First, I discussed that one of my greatest strengths
is the massive amount of diversity I have experienced in my teaching career. As I enter the end
of my program, I would say that this is a strength that has held true and has become even
stronger. In my past teaching career I have worked with a diverse group of students from at-risk
youth to honor graduates. Currently I teach business and computer science to every student in
grades fifth through eighth at Commerce Middle School. I teach special education students,
ESOL students, gifted students, and regular education. I pride myself on my ability to be able to
relate to all types of students and incorporate technology into numerous learning abilities. Since
entering the Ed.S program at the University of West Georgia I have gained an abundance of
technological skills that I have incorporated into my classroom. I realize that technology is the
future and it can sometimes be the only thing that keeps a student in school. Through this
program I have learned to be diverse in my instructions. I now see the importance of using
technologies that our students are accustom to using in their everyday life and incorporating
those skills into my curriculum. In my eighth grade class a wiki is used for assignments and
collaboration. I post questions to the wiki and my students respond daily. Besides posting their
assignments, they also email me and others in the class through the use of the wiki. The students
love using the wiki and think of it as a social networking tool that they are able to use as a part of
their education. I learned about the strengths of using a wiki in the classroom through several of
my MEDT courses. In using a wiki in Drs. Huett, Bennett, Bray, and Baylen’s classes I realized
how I could bring this wonderful technological tool into my own classroom. I have done this
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and it has been a phenomenal success. I have found that using other Web 2.0 tools, such as
blogs, google documents, moviemaker, and Camtasia also offer a successful learning style for
students who are academically lower than others. A lot of students do not want to pick up a
book to learn, but they will log-on to the computer and challenge themselves with new web tools.
A second strength I listed about myself was having a strong initiative and being highly
competitive. I have always strived to do my best at whatever I undertake. I am that way in the
classroom and out of the classroom. I am very competitive as a teacher and as a student. In my
SWOT Analysis, I noted that I have implemented and led the Future Business Leaders of
America at my school to become the best chapter in the state of Georgia. I love to see my
students succeed and I encourage them and support them in winning numerous local, state, and
national awards. As I learned new technologies through the Ed.S program at the University of
West Georgia I have been determined to try to use them in not only my classroom, but my FBLA
Chapter, and my everyday life. Each year my students have entered the media competition, but
previously we just entered a simple PowerPoint. This year I was able to teach my students how
to use moviemaker and during competition our media presentation was outstanding. We were
able to bring home the top award in media technology. Also, I have always been intimidated
with teaching or entering competitions in website design. Now, taking the experience I have
learned in my instructional technology classes, I use Kompozer to teach website design. I also
entered the website design competition with FBLA this year for the first time. My students
placed forth in the state in this competitive event. Non-technology related, the competitive side
of me really took off in other ways as well, to my detriment. I took on graduate school, head of
the technology committee, advisor to the FBLA Chapter, presented technological related
professional development meetings for my principal, supported two sons at the University of
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Georgia, and supported my 86 year old dad, through his and my grief of my mother. While I
have always prided myself on my ability to take on a lot and keep on going, I am glad and
excited that I will be finishing my degree this year, along with one of my sons, who will be
finishing his degree. I am very excited for the both of us and I look forward to a relaxing
summer. I do plan to scale back a little after this year and try to enjoy my husband, my
grandson, my children, and myself.
Weaknesses Revisited
The primary weakness I listed in my SWOT Analysis was my limited knowledge of the
hardware aspect of the computer. Previously, I had very limited knowledge on networking and
troubleshooting to resolve problems. Since I wrote this over a year ago, I have found that I still
have limitations when it comes to the technical end of the computer, but I have grown by leaps
and bounds with the assistance of the MEDT program. I learned a lot of information in Dr.
Bray’s classroom about hardware. I even learned how to set up and run a virtual lab through my
computer. I am so proud to say that during our last face to face session we had to build a
computer on site and I was actually successful in doing this conquest. I knew the names of parts
of the hardware and I was able to construct a workable computer. I have since been able to fix
minor problems in my classroom without having to contact our technology specialist.
Another weakness that I listed on my initial SWOT analysis was that I could not speak a
foreign language and with the high enrollment of Hispanics at my school this has become a
problem in the classroom. I am sorry to say that I have not conquered this weakness. I still feel
that it would benefit me greatly to learn Spanish, but with the amount of course work that I have
taken it has been impossible to follow through with improving this weakness. Next year, when I
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am no longer a student myself I plan to enroll in a foreign language course or take some online
classes.
My third weakness was my inability to say no to others. This still holds true, but has
improved over the year. I still teach at the same small school and we only have one technology
specialist who works at all of our schools in the system. I am called upon frequently for my
assistance on many technological related problems. I have learned to become more assertive in
my ability to say no when I am extremely busy and do not have the time to help others. I still
feel guilty in saying no, but I am learning to be tactful and tell the person asking for assistance
that I will help them when I have time. Working on my specialist at the University of West
Georgia has made me realize that I have to set priorities in order to get my work complete or I
will get behind. I have had to realize the importance of saying no to others in order to help
myself. This weakness is still a work in progress and is definitely something I need to overcome.
Opportunities Revisited
The opportunities section of the SWOT Analysis is where I have excelled the most. I
fully maximized upon the opportunities that I had for growth as a user of technology. I have
continued to attend all workshops and conferences available to me through my school system. I
have continued to stay abreast on current technologies and to interact with other technically
inclined professionals. My biggest opportunity to stay abreast of current technologies has been
provided through my enrollment in the Instructional Technology Ed.S. Program at the University
of West Georgia. I have been provided with an abundant of informational and hands-on
opportunities to learn about technology, especially as it pertains to teaching. I have used the peer
discussions as a sounding board for problem-solving and gaining new ideas. I have implemented
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several of the projects I created for my coursework into my own classroom. I have also shared
my newfound knowledge with my co-workers so that they may incorporate fun and exciting web
tools into their classrooms.
A second opportunity I took advantage of and will continue to take advantage of is that of
having a technology-savvy principal at my school. My principal is an avid user of technology
and is highly encouraging when it comes to exploring new technologies to enhance student
learning. My principal has held several professional development workshops focusing on the use
of new technological practices. Since being enrolled in the Ed.S MEDT program, he has asked
me to be a part of the training during several of these workshops. In May he is sending me to a
workshop on my system’s grade program where I can come back and provide training to the
other teachers in my school. He is very proud of my accomplishments and has encouraged me to
continue learning new technologies and sharing with the rest of the staff.
Threats Revisited
I have made progress in the area of my threats. My primary threat a year ago was budget
restraints in my school system, which causes the technical hardware to suffer. The majority of
the money for technology goes to the high school in my school system. While this still holds
true I have been able to obtain money which was only allocated for the middle school. Using
skills that I learned through my Ed.S courses my students and I were able to create a video using
moviemaker and win a grant from Windsteam for the use of technology. I have purchased
several new monitors and processing units for my classroom with the grant money received.
Each year I plan to apply for not only the Windstream grant, but others that are budgeted for
technology. Before enrolling into the Instructional Technology program I would have never felt
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that I had the abilities to apply for and much less win one of the grants offered. Money isn’t as
big of a threat as it once was, not because more money is available, but because I have gotten
smarter about finding programs or grants that are free or open-source, thus alleviating the need
for money altogether.
Another treat that I discussed in my initial SWOT analysis was my shortage of
instructional time. I still teach every student in the school throughout the year and still find it
very difficult to teach everything that is included on the Georgia Performance Standards in a nine
week period. However, since enrolling in the Ed.S Instructional Technology program I have
improved in my teaching abilities to categorize, group, and implement projects into one standard.
For example, in my eighth grade class I am to teach Entrepreneurship, Desktop Publishing,
Website Design, Media, and Word Processing to meet Georgia Standards. In order to meet the
standards I have implemented a class project which last all semester. Students working in
partners decide on a business venture that they would like to develop. Students write up a
business plan, develop flyers, advertisements using moviemaker, and design and publish a
website for their business. This one project meets all of the above listed standards. I use a
classroom wiki for the students to post their assignments and collaborate with each other. The
wiki also saves me time in grading printed out papers. This idea, which I developed from my
MEDT course load, has proven to be very successful.
Technology Goals and Plan Revisited
In my original SWOT Analysis, I outlined two goals that I hoped to achieve. I wanted to
continue to incorporate my love of computers into the hearts of my students. I wanted to prepare
my students to be successful and realize the importance of learning as much about technology as
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possible. I also wanted to become computer savvy by learning more about hardware,
networking, servers, and troubleshooting. Upon reflection, I realize that I have done a pretty
good job of moving toward these goals. I have learned new web tools that I have incorporated
into my classroom and share daily with my students. I have given my students the opportunity to
take web tools that they use at home and use them in an educational setting. I have incorporated
new tools into my classroom, such as wikis, moviemaker, blogs, camtasia, Google documents
and digital storytelling. My students and I have grown by incorporating exciting and fun web
tools into our learning. I do need to learn more about hardware, networking, and trouble
shooting, but in the last year I have definitely become more computer savvy. I am not afraid to
try to conquer any technicalogical problem put before me. I may not always be successful, but I
am determined to give it my best effort.
For my future, I have set the goal of becoming a Director of Instructional Technology for
a prosperous school system. I would now like to be provided the opportunity to share the skills I
have learned with other teachers. I would like to provide assistance to them in implementing
new technologies into their classrooms. I still plan to maintain the goal of staying abreast of new
technologies, to read and research new web tools that are available for the improvement of
education in the 21st Century.
Even though I am very excited about graduation, I am sad that my time in the
Instructional Technology program is coming to an end. I have learned so much more than I ever
thought I would. It is my hope that I will keep up with the newest innovations and technologies
beyond my coursework at the University of West Georgia. Finally, I am incredibly thankful for
my wonderful professors in this program who have been so helpful, understanding, and have
given so much of their valuable time and guidance. Through all of these positive experiences I now
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feel that I am equipped with the necessary skills to be successful in a technology-driven society and I
have the ability to share my drive with the students I teach and peers that I work with on a day to day
basis.